Rain heightens Okoboji worries

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OKOBOJI, Iowa — On the surface, this summer in the Iowa Great Lakes looks like any other.

Over a warm weekend the parking lots of resorts and bars and boat launch areas are full of cars with plates from Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota, most of them towing boats. The old wooden roller coaster is still rumbling at the amusement park. Near the lakes you can hear a near-constant hum of speedboats and personal watercraft.

In short, there's too much of it. After weeks of higher-than-normal rainfall and a mid-July storm that dropped more than 3 inches of rain in a matter of hours, the Iowa Great Lakes are at their highest levels since 1993, the year of widespread flooding.

In some places the water has eroded the shoreline and flooded boathouses and basements. It has forced the cancellation of at least one big event, a wooden boat show that draws visitors from across the country, because of fears of boat damage from waves. The water is too high in some areas to dock boats, but most businesses, beaches and docks remain accessible.

In a community that depends on the support of the thousands of visitors who flock here every summer — many of them, incidentally, from already flood-soaked cities and towns along the Missouri River — the problems and perceptions of problems posed by high water have locals concerned. Each summer, Dickinson County shops, resorts, restaurants and tourist attractions bring in a combined $200 million from tourists.

And while the damage and the water levels are nowhere near 1993 levels, the situation has sparked a sometimes-contentious local conversation about how best to keep visitors coming while protecting the area's most valuable resources.

With the water sitting more than 25 inches above normal levels, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources implemented an emergency no-wake zone of 600 feet from the shoreline on all area lakes, limiting speeds there to 5 miles per hour. Some residents have pushed for a complete no-wake zone, but so far, local officials have rejected that idea.

The wake rule doubles the distance from the buoys that currently float 300 feet from shore. On the smaller lakes, that means there's not much room to move faster than a person could walk. On the larger lakes, such as West Okoboji, there's still a large area for fast-moving boats — but the rules still have some people confused.

Behind the counter at Extreme Watersports, a boat rental and parasailing shop housed in a tiki hut near the amusement park, Nick Northern said he's seen a drop in business since the 600-foot no-wake rule went into effect. He worries that a lakewide no-wake zone — such as one imposed for weeks in 1993 — would be a disaster.

"Oh, yeah, that would kill us," he said. "That would kill all of us businesses."

That fear was echoed by several business owners who attended a hastily called meeting by the Dickinson County Emergency Management Agency that packed a room Friday with more than 80 people.

Resort owner Julie Fillenwarth said she hasn't had any cancellations because of the high water and no-wake rules, but she's had several calls from people not sure what's going on in Okoboji.

"Visitors don't know what 600 feet means," she said, referencing the no-wake rule. "We've had calls from people who say 'The lake is closed, so we're not coming.' "

Fillenwarth said business has remained steady — in large part because she's spent time convincing people that the high water shouldn't stop their plans.

But some residents said business owners are taking a short-sighted view of a longer-term issue.

Vern Schoeneman, a member of the East Okoboji Lake Improvement Corp., said he and other property owners have invested a great deal of time and money to keep the water from altering the shape of the lakes. But he said that work doesn't go far when waves from passing boats smack against the shore.

"It seems to me it's very simple," he said. "We have shoreline eroding into the lake and we need to keep the shoreline from eroding into the lake further."

Other homeowners pointed to mudslides and erosion around the lakes and the still-present threat of further damage to docks, homes and the shoreline. One noted the difference between damage caused by "an act of God" — the initial rain — and problems caused by humans.

But business owners like Butch Parks, who runs two marinas and attached bars — the Barefoot Bar and Okoboji Boat Works — said the problem isn't boats. Instead, he said, each property owner should pile up sandbags, build walls or do whatever it takes to keep their part of the shoreline protected.

"Nobody is going to come and rescue you," he said. "You take care of your property. I'm working seven days a week and I don't have time to raise your dock or fix your bank."

Meanwhile, Steve Anderson, an urban conservationist with Dickinson County, said neither approach would fix the problem. As long as property owners prefer manicured lawns and clear, sandy beaches over the natural grasses and cattails that once surrounded the lake, he said, they'll run into trouble.

"If you want to keep your shoreline in place, you need to go back to the natural system," he said.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials said they have surveyed reports of damage around the lakes and have found problems — but not enough to merit a full no-wake rule. "Unfortunately, living on the lake is a risky business," said Gary Owen, a department officer. "I don't know if we can say we're in an emergency situation."

Emergency management officials agreed and chose not to expand the speed limit.

For now, Owen said his department is trying to get the word out about the rules, because it could take weeks for the lakes to return to normal levels. There are posters tacked up at boat ramps, public service announcements on the radio and volunteers handing out brochures. Officials said they want people to come and enjoy the lakes, but also want them to be aware that they need to be more careful.

Department of Natural Resources officers are taking the no-wake rule seriously, but state budget cuts have narrowed their ranks from 14 last summer to four. A few additional officers have been approved for the lakes, but it will be a couple of weeks until they are finished training.

With so few officers, Owen joked, his team almost would have to break the no-wake rule getting from one end of the lake to another to enforce it.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1543, erin.golden@owh.com

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